Mass Law Blog
Intellectual property and business litigation, Massachusetts and nationallyWritten by humans
Lee Gesmer’s Mass Law Blog began in 2005, and contains almost 600 posts. The site initially focused on Massachusetts law, but today it follows business and intellectual property law nation-wide. The site is hosted by Gesmer Updegrove LLP, a law firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm represents startup and established companies in the areas of litigation, transactions (including financings, mergers and acquisitions), IP rights, taxation, employment law, standards consortia, business counseling and open source development projects and foundations. You can find a summary of the firm’s services here. To learn how Gesmer Updegrove can help you, contact: Lee Gesmer
Judge Michel Announces Resignation, Lays it On the Line (and promises more to follow)
CAFC Chief Judge Paul Michel doesn't pull punches when he states his views on problems with the U.S. patent system and the federal courts more generally, and he didn't pull too many when he announced his upcoming retirement from the CAFC on on November 20, 2009. A few notable quotes from his speech: On interlocutory appeals of claim construction rulings to the CAFC: A provision in a Senate patent reform bill would allow interlocutory appeals of Markman rulings. Predictably, Judge Michel...
"STOP PUTTING CLAUSES INTO YOUR CONTRACTS THAT SAY YOU CAN AMEND THE CONTRACT AT ANY TIME IN YOUR SOLE DISCRETION BY POSTING THE REVISED TERMS TO THE WEBSITE" . . .
... says Professor Eric Goldman, in his apologetically belated comments on Harris v. Blockbuster Inc., (N.D. Tex. April 15, 2009). I discussed this case briefly in April, shortly after the decision was published. To reprise, the court held that an arbitration clause in Blockbuster's online t's and c's was unenforceable because Blockbuster was permitted to unilaterally amend the contract without notice. Prof. Goldman's take on it (in addition to the title of this post), is - This language has...
Google's Antitrust "Charm Offensive" and Consumer Watchdog.Org's Response
Surely, Google doesn't want to go through what so many dominant companies in the U.S. have had to suffer - government antitrust scrutiny, in the form of merger/joint venture challenges and even, God forbid, a Microsoft-like monopolization suit. For better or worse, intensive antitrust scrutiny is the price of success in the U.S., and while it can't be avoided altogether, perhaps it can be minimized. Or so Google hopes. To that end, Google has made available a webinar entitled "Google,...
"No, You May Not Buy a Judge," Supreme Court Rules, and the Dissent’s "40 Questions"
“Turn it over, and turn it over, for all is therein.” The Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Aboth, Ch. V, Mishnah 22 (I. Epstein ed. 1935), quoted in Justice Scalia's dissent in Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co. ----------------- In mid-March I wrote a post about the decision facing the Supreme Court in Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co. The issue was whether a state court judge’s failure to recuse himself from a case in which he received substantial campaign donations from one of the parties violates...
Aiding and Abetting Prostitution? Wa?! I’m an Internet Executive – I Sure Hope My Mom Doesn’t Read That!
“We opened an investigation at 5:01 on Friday, as promised. . . . We are preparing for a prosecution. We are investigating. We are moving forward. . . . . The #1 defendant is Mr. Jim Buckmaster, who is the man in charge of Craigslist.. . . . Craigslist is a big promoter and facilitator of prostitution.” South Carolina Attorney General, on Sunday, according to the Craigslist Blog. Hmmm, this is the kind of thing that is protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, assuming that...
Antitrust, Followed by Anti-Anitrust Followed by ….
All of the news articles I'm seeing about how aggressive the newly appointed antitrust enforcers may be puts me in a mind to reminisce. When I graduated law school in 1979 I went off to what was then called Howrey & Simon, at that time the self-proclaimed antitrust heavyweight of D.C., and maybe the entire country. We certainly believed this to be true, and maybe it was. Back then there was no American Lawyer, and no one was really keeping score. At Howrey it was all antitrust all the...
This site is hosted by Gesmer Updegrove LLP, a technology law firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. You can find a summary of our services here. To learn how GU can help you, contact:
Lee Gesmer